Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Dec 27, 2022; 14(12): 2012-2024
Published online Dec 27, 2022. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v14.i12.2012
Liver chemistries in severe or non-severe cases of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Xuan Dong, Dan-Yi Zeng, Qing-Qing Xing, Mei-Zhu Hong, Jin-Shui Pan
Xuan Dong, Dan-Yi Zeng, Qing-Qing Xing, Jin-Shui Pan, Department of Hepatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian Province, China
Mei-Zhu Hong, Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Mengchao Hepatobiliary Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian Province, China
Author contributions: Pan JS and Hong MZ were involved with the study conceptualization and design; analysis and interpretation of data; drafting of the manuscript; and approval of the final version of the manuscript; Dong X, Zeng DY, and Xing QQ were involved in data retrieval; All authors read and approved the final manuscript; Dong X and Zeng DY contributed equally to this work.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The study only utilizes publically available published aggregated anonymous data, not a human subject research. Potential studies were retrieved in accordance with the PRISMA guideline.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jin-Shui Pan, MD, PhD, Chief Doctor, Professor, Department of Hepatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, No. 20 Chazhong Road, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian Province, China. j.s.pan76@gmail.com
Received: July 3, 2022
Peer-review started: July 3, 2022
First decision: September 30, 2022
Revised: October 21, 2022
Accepted: December 21, 2022
Article in press: December 21, 2022
Published online: December 27, 2022
Processing time: 172 Days and 20 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

According to the World Health Organization released situation report, many of people were confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) globally.

Research motivation

Severe COVID-19 was more likely to be associated with abnormal liver test results.

Research objectives

A close monitoring of liver chemistries can provide an early warning of disease progression.

Research methods

We used 56 studies, which included a total of 11052 patients for Meta-Analyses to explored the difference of liver chemistries from severe cases of COVID-19 to non-severe cases.

Research results

This article showed that severe cases of COVID-19 tended to have higher alanine aminotransferase or aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase/γ-glutamyltransferase, and total bilirubin levels; prolonged prothrombin time; and higher international standardized ratio. However, the severe cases had lower albumin levels than the non-severe cases.

Research conclusions

Severe COVID-19 was more likely to be associated with abnormal liver test results.

Research perspectives

In the future, more targeted therapies and holistic care approaches may be developed as a result of better knowledge.